


In Through the Window

by Spoodlemonkey



Series: Apartment Au [3]
Category: Fantastic Four (Comicverse)
Genre: But Ben makes it better, But then also comfort, Drunk Johnny makes an appearance, Fluff, M/M, Pre-Slash, Sad Johnny, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-26
Updated: 2016-06-26
Packaged: 2018-07-18 07:20:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7304899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spoodlemonkey/pseuds/Spoodlemonkey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Drunk Johnny makes an appearance and Ben learns a bit about his roommates back ground.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Through the Window

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bananaandthena](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bananaandthena/gifts).



> So this was supposed to be humor but then took a left turn into sad Johnny ville but it doesn't last long because he gets cuddles?  
> Let me know if this makes any sense cause I'm as exhausted as Ben is and would rather be playing with the baby raccoons invading my backyard as we speak :) 

Three in the morning Ben’s jolted out of a sound sleep to the shrill sound of his phone. Groggily he gropes around the side table for it, wrapping clumsy hands around the offensive piece of technology. It takes him a moment, staring at the lit display, for the blurred images to resolve themselves into letters. Even then it’s too much effort to actually _understand_ the words. It’s almost gone to voicemail by the time he manages to rub two brain cells together and _answer_ the damn thing.

It takes another three brain cells (at least) before he remembers to put it to his ear and grunt what could be considered a threat to whoever’s on the other end. If it’s his Aunt Petunia again he’s going to throw his phone out the window.

He loves the woman but she gets the most ridiculous urges to call in the middle of the night to make sure he’s not starving on the streets.

“…Ben?” Alicia. He cringes, hit by a wave of sudden guilt.

Alicia, the only person in the world he won’t kill for waking him up in the middle of the night.

“Yeah, sorry.”

“Sorry to wake you.” The humor lacing her voice says otherwise but Ben chooses to forgive her. “But I have something that I think belongs to you.”

“What?” He glances at the glowing red numbers of the clock next to his bed. “Can it wait till morning?”

“He can always sleep on my couch.” She muses and Ben pauses.

“He?”

If he listens closely he can make out someone talking in the background, but he can’t quite catch the words.

“Yeah, Johnny’s on my couch. Pretty drunk too; if you can’t come and get him it’s alright. I just didn’t want him wandering off by himself.”

For a moment there he considers whether he could actually get away with murder. He’s pretty sure he could.

“Give me five.”

“Thanks Ben.” She hangs up and Ben sets about trying to drag himself out of bed and into a pair of track pants.

::  
Alicia’s dressed in a fluffy pink robe when she opens the door, her dark curls pulled back in a messy bun. Even at the disgusting hour of the night she still manages to look absolutely beautiful.

“Hey,”

She breaks out into a smile at the sound of his voice and ushers him in.

“He crawled in through the window,” She says, gesturing in the direction of the lump curled up on her couch. “Lyja nearly took his head off with a bat; we thought he was a burglar.”

“Ben!” Johnny’s face lights up when he spots him, cheeks pinked, eyes glassy, and looking so damn pleased to see him. Something constricts in his chest but he ignores it. The kid’s tucked happily into a soft looking grey blanket. Lyja waves at Ben with the arm not currently wrapped around Johnny, probably a mixture of cuddling him and making sure he doesn’t topple off the couch or wander off again. Johnny’s sense of direction goes out the window with the second beer of the night, Ben’s discovered.

“He came in through the window?” Ben eyes the open curtain and the fire escape past it.

“I thought it was our living room.” Johnny _giggles_ , burying his face in the blanket. Ben’s phone is still sitting on the side table where he tossed it in his rush to get down the hall to Alicia’s, but he’s wishing he had it here for all the potential black mail material he could be filming.

“What about the front door?”

Johnny just laughs harder. Lyja shares an exasperated glance with Ben, her dark green hair falling out of the precarious ponytail she’d apparently thrown it in.

“Just make sure he gets into bed.” She stands, expertly tugging the blanket away before Johnny can notice. She casts a sly glance his way. “I’m sure he’d be perfectly content in _your_ bed, Ben.”

Alicia laughs, soft and musical. Ben rolls his eyes, holding a hand out for the kid, and Johnny latches onto like a lifeline, using it to pull him to his feet.

“I would.” Johnny tells him earnestly. Ben chooses to ignore it, knowing he’s going to read into it too much.

“Just so you can keep an eye on him of course.” Lyja continues with a devious grin. Ben figures this is fair revenge for all of this. Johnny stumbles and then sags against his side with a contented hum.

“Sorry for this, ladies.”

“It’s alright.” Alicia leans against her girlfriend, yawning. “He seemed a little sad when he wandered in. At least he’s cheered up.”

Ben peers down at Johnny but the kids mind is a million miles away, gaze distant as he hums a tuneless song.

::

  
Getting him back to the apartment isn’t that difficult. Trying to convince him to go to his own room is close to impossible. Johnny kicks up a fuss, pouting, whining, and Ben is pretty sure they’re about to wake up the entire apartment. So he gives in, leading Johnny into his own room, leaving for a moment to grab the kid some water and a bucket.

By the time he gets back Johnny’s stripped down to his boxers and crawled under the covers.

Ben’s pretty sure he’s being tested by some higher power that _hates_ him.

He hesitates by the side of the bed, clad only in his boxers and a t-shirt not really sure what to do. He could go sleep on the couch, or take Johnny’s bed. But there’s plenty of space and it is _his_ bed. He’s tired, a little cranky, and, before he can change his mind, climbing under the covers.

Johnny’s a _furnace_ next to him, but Ben has always run a little cooler so he’s fine after he shucks his t-shirt.

Johnny latches onto him immediately, an arm snaking its way across his torso, Johnny’s chest pressed to his side. Apparently this is a thing they do now, and he figures the kid won’t remember in the morning anyways, so he awkwardly shifts until he can wrap an arm around Johnny’s shoulders. It’s more comfortable. That’s all.

He’s more solemn now though, the initial happiness he’d witnessed at Alicia’s apartment having slowly been sapped away until they’re left here, with Johnny watching him with tired blue eyes that suddenly appear far too old. Ben wants to wipe the look away, to replace it with the cockiness Johnny wears like a badge during the day, or the drunken happiness from ten minutes ago. He’s also hyperaware of how _raw_ the look is and knows with the upmost certainty that he doesn’t know how to fix it.

“Wanna talk about it?” Doesn’t stop him from trying though.

Johnny takes his time answering, so long in fact that Ben has begun to drift, certain that this will be something they never discuss again, something that he’s surprised to find more than a little disappointing.

“I got a letter from my dad.”

Ben’s not entirely sure he didn’t imagine the quiet words. It’s not like he really knows anything about the Storms parents. They’ve been roommates for a few months now, but it’s never come up before. Any photos he might have glimpsed appeared old, or only featured Sue and Johnny.

“What did it say?” He asks at a loss.

“Nothing much. Just asking about school and stuff.” Johnny exhales heavily, his mouth brushing Ben’s shoulder, hot air tickling his neck. He stays _very_ still.

“You never talk about your parents.”

Johnny half shrugs, pulling himself tighter against Ben even as his words slur, eye lids drooping as the alcohol finally exhausts him enough to attempt to sleep.

“Nothing t’ say.” He murmurs, already mostly asleep.

Ben considers pressing, drunk Johnny is apparently willing to share in the way sober Johnny isn’t. But it also feels like a gross violation. He watches as Johnny drifts off, notices how long his eyelashes really are, dark smudges against his skin, the plumpness of his lips.

He scrubs his free hand over his face; he doesn’t think he’s going to be getting much sleep like this.

He ends up sleeping soundly.

::

Johnny’s missing by the time Ben wakes up, but the showers going and Sue is already in the kitchen, coffee in one hand, book in the other.

“Morning,” she greets, cheerful in the way only a morning person can be.

He grunts, not trusting himself to use actual words before he gets coffee in his hands. He’s in luck, there’s a fresh pot brewing and he pours himself a cup before joining Suzie at the table.

“Were you and Johnny up in the middle of the night?” She asks, marking her page. “I thought I heard you.”

“Yeah,” he stops himself from mentioning how drunk the kid was, unsure of how she’ll react. “Sorry if we woke you.”

“It’s fine. I found a letter from my dad this morning that I missed, so I figured Johnny had gotten one too.  He never sleeps well when we get them.”

Ben’s not going to pass up an opening like that for answers.

“He didn’t actually tell me what the deal was with your dad. Just seemed pretty upset.”

Sue grimaces, taking a sip of her coffee.

“It’s not really a secret,” she says with a sigh. “It’s been just the two of us for years. Our father ended up in prison and Johnny’s never really been able to forgive him for it. ”

“That’s,” Ben pauses, at a loss for words. He can’t imagine living like that, only having each other to rely on. It’s always been him and Reed against the world, but even then, they had their families supporting them.  Sue says it so casually; as though it’s something she’s had to repeat over and over until it’s nothing more than scar tissue covering an old wound. He knew she was tough, but to be tough enough to put herself through school and support herself and Johnny? It’s a side he hasn’t seen before, from either of them, and he’s a little humbled by it and how it changes his view of the pair. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s old news.” Suzie brushes it off, eager to move on, and Ben follows her lead. “But thanks for looking after him last night.”

Ben just shrugs; he doesn’t feel like he did much, not nearly enough. A moment later Johnny comes wandering down the hall, skin still pinked from his shower, and a bright grin on his face. He looks pretty good for someone who was piss drunk the night before. He looks happier, younger, than in that brief moment before he fell asleep.  

“Morning Sue, Benji.” He ruffles Sue’s hair as he passes much to her displeasure.

“Sleep well, squirt?” She asks, fixing her hair. Johnny settles at the table, bowl full of some sugary cereal that gives Ben cavities just from looking at it. He doesn’t quite meet Ben’s gaze, cheeks flushing darker.

“Slept like a baby.”

Ben ducks his head, fighting the pleased feeling welling up in him.

Sue gets up to set her cup in the sink, padding off towards her room to get dressed. Johnny must have been waiting for her to be out of ear shot, because a moment later he’s leaning forwards, cereal forgotten for the moment.

“Don’t tell Sue.”

Ben rolls his eyes, tucking back into his coffee.

“I’m not gonna. Just try not to crawl into our neighbors windows again.” Johnny winces at that and Ben has to ask, “Why _did_ you go through the window?”

“I thought it would be quieter.” Johnny mumbles and Ben laughs, imagining fierce Lyja with a baseball bat and Johnny cowering in fear.

“Next time just use the door.”

“Tell drunk me that.” He shoots back, looking about a second away from sticking out his tongue. He sobers up suddenly though, looking endearingly uncomfortable. “But I wanted to thank you. For everything.”

“Don’t mention it kid.” Ben shifts, feeling uncomfortable himself. He’s about ready to beat a manly retreat to the shower. “Just try not to steal my bed next time.”

There’s a sly look on Johnny’s face when he says,

“You didn’t seem to mind it last night.”

Ben flips him off as he makes his hasty retreat to the sound of Johnny’s laughter.

**Author's Note:**

> So I just really liked the idea of Alicia/Lyja as their neighbors...may explore Ben and Alicia's backstory a bit cause I don't want to ignore that.  
> And I wanted to just briefly touch upon Sue and Johnny's shitty parental situation but I'll probably expand on it more at some point...hope you liked it!


End file.
